A California family has been fined $300 for violating city zoning codes … by holding Bible studies in their house. Charles and Stephanie Fromm have appealed the fine, but were told that more fines would be levied if the regular study groups continue without the Fromms obtaining a permit. A…
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Barcelona’s intricate temple to God to be ready for centenary of architect Antoni Gaudí’s death … or thereabouts Barcelona’s emblematic Sagrada Família church finally has a completion date — 2026 or 2028, more than 140 years after it was started. Joan Rigol, president of the committee charged with finishing the building by Antoni Gaudí, said it should be finished in time for the centenary for the architect’s death – or, if not, two years later. Five huge towers are being added to the eccentric building, which is among Spain’s most-visited tourist attractions. Gaudí died in 1926 after being runover by the city’s No 30 tram. He had been living on the Sagrada Familía building site and looked so impoverished that it took several hours for doctors to realise who he was. The tram driver thought he had hit a drunken tramp. Originally paid for by subscription, the church was always set to take a long time to build. “My client is in no hurry,” Gaudí once said, referring to God. The building was at one stage popularly known as “the cathedral of the poor” and Gaudi himself was known to go begging for contributions – which currently amount to around €500,000 (£440,000) a year. An influx of tourists, along with modern masonry techniques, has seen work speed up considerably over the past two decades. Some three million fee-paying tourists are expected to visit this year alone, contributing €30m. With a roof finally in place, Pope Benedict was able to consecrate it as a basilica last year. But a setback came when a man set fire to the basilica’s sacristy in April, with repair work still under way. “The damage is worse than we had thought,” said the building’s chief architect, Jordi Bonet. Authorities are now considering installing metal detectors at the entrance. “Our new objective is to complete the six central towers, of which five have already been started,” said Rigol. The sixth tower will measure 170 metres and contain a lift to carry tourists to the top. Rigol added that a high-speed rail tunnel to be built nearby, which has been approved by the courts, may still damage the buildings foundations. Bonet did not seem so sure about the finish date. “I’m not saying that it is wrong, I hope it is not, but it is not that simple. This is a very complex work and needs a lot of investigation,” the architect told the RAC1 radio station. “Everyone has the best will, but I cannot give any assurances.” Spain Architecture Europe Catholicism Religion Christianity Giles Tremlett guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Troy Davis campaigners vow to fight ‘inhumane and inflexible’ death penalty
September 22, 2011 No Comment
Relatives and activists say execution in Georgia should act as a wake-up call to US politicians to abolish the death penalty In statistical terms, it may have been just another execution, a convicted murderer dispatched by prison medics with clinical efficiency. But, on the morning after the death by lethal injection of Troy Davis, there was no sign that the controversy over the case would be buried with him. Davis was sent to his death despite a mass of evidence casting his 1991 conviction in doubt, including recantations from seven of the nine key witnesses at his trial for the murder of a police officer. The execution has provoked an extraordinary outpouring of protest in Georgia, at the supreme court and White House in Washington, and in cities around the world. Davis’s case has become even more charged by the manner of his death: he was reprieved three times before Wednesday night and an intervention by the supreme court delayed the execution by four hours. Relatives of Davis and civil rights leaders across the south vowed to fight on with the campaign to have the death penalty abolished. Richard Dieter, the director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said it was a clear wake-up call to politicians across the US. He said: “They weren’t expecting such passion from people in opposition to the death penalty. There’s a widely-held perception that all Americans are united in favour of executions, but this message came across loud and clear that many people are not happy with it.” Brian Evans of Amnesty, which led the campaign to spare Davis’s life, said that there was a groundswell in America of people “who are tired of a justice system that is inhumane and inflexible and allows executions where there is clear doubts about guilt”. He predicted the debate would now be conducted with renewed energy. Martina Correia, Davis’s sister, who kept vigil at the prison until the end, said that a movement had been formed that would transcend her brother’s death. Sitting in a wheelchair as she battles cancer, she said: “If you can get millions of people to stand up against this, we can end the death penalty.” The case has attracted high-profile backers, and the #RIPTroyDavis hashtag was trending on Twitter on Wednesday. Protesters with placards gathered outside the White House. But so far, national politicians have refrained from entering the debate. Before the execution, White House press secretary Jay Carney said: “It is not appropriate for the president of the United States to weigh in on specific cases like this one, which is a state prosecution.” Rick Perry, the leading contender for the Republican nomination and a strong supporter of the death penalty, has made no public statement on the Davis case. His presence in the Republican race guarantees that the issue of capital punishment will remain in the spotlight in a way it hasn’t for years. At a TV debate earlier this month, the audience cheered when the host noted Texas had executed 234 death row inmates during Perry’s time as governor. In Jackson, Georgia on Wednesday night, there were dramatic scenes outside the Diagnostic and Classification Prison, where Davis was pronounced dead at 11.08pm. About 500 protesters, most of them African-American, lined up on the other side of the road to the entrance of the prison which was barricaded by a cordon of Swat police dressed in full riot gear and brandishing tear gas rifles. Davis was executed for the 1989 murder of Mark MacPhail, who was working off duty as a security guard when he intervened to help a homeless person being attacked. Davis was implicated by another man, Sylvester Coles, present at the time. But since the trial seven of the key witnesses have come forward to say their evidence was wrong, and others have testified under oath that Coles was the killer. As he lay on the gurney, Davis once again declared his innocence, telling the family of MacPhail lined up behind a glass screen in front of him that the wrong person was about to die. Raphael Warnock, the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist church in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King had his ministry, said that though Davis’s final hours were distressing, “through this, America is being transformed. This is one of those watershed moments when a human evil and injustice that is part of the norm suddenly becomes questioned and challenged.” Attention is now focusing on the American south. Though 34 of the 50 states still have the death penalty, only 12 states carried out executions last year, and now 80% of all executions take place in the south. The south’s history of racial segregation has also highlighted claims of racial bigotry. One of Davis’s lawyers, Thomas Ruffin, has called his death a “legal lynching”, pointing out that while black males make up 15% of the population of Georgia they fill almost half the cells on its death row. The civil rights group the NAACP said it would step up its campaign to persuade states, particularly in the south, to abolish the death penalty. “States like Georgia have an ugly history of state-sanctioned executions like that of Troy Davis, and in our view they are reminiscent of the lynchings that happened in the deep south,” said the NAACP’s Steve Hawkins. A further area of concern raised by the case is reliance on uncorroborated eyewitness accounts. Davis was convicted without any DNA or other forensic evidence, and the murder weapon was never found. False witness evidence has been found to be a crucial factor in three-quarters of the cases where convicted prisoners were found to be innocent and were then exonerated. Al Sharpton, who attended the protests in Jackson, said he would be pressing for new legislation to ban death penalties in cases relying only on witness statements. But it is unlikely that a new law overturning the practice could be passed in Washington. It is convention that individual states have control over death penalty rules, and the federal government can only lead by example in its own execution practices; it does not generally have the power to tell states like Georgia what to do. Troy Davis State of Georgia Capital punishment United States US supreme court Human rights Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Typhoon Roke cleared out of Japan today, leaving 16 people dead or missing—and the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant intact. The storm, Japan’s second major typhoon in one month, dumped as much as 17 inches of rain, causing landslides and flooding. Winds snapped power lines, leaving more than 200,…
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We follow the announcements at the social network’s annual developer conference in the wake of a series of changes to Facebook’s design 10.16am: He has! Respect. Eisenberg is on stage now. “I wanna start with the issue of authentic identity I am Mark Zuckerberg…” 10.14am: If I was Mark Zuckerberg, I’d kick this off by sending Jesse Eisenberg on-stage to pretend to be me. This is probably just one of the many reasons I’m not Mark Zuckerberg. The keynote is about to start though: here we go! 10.12am: So, last-minute predictions from me. Music, obviously. Possibly TV, film and some interesting stuff around newspapers too. Facebook’s iPad app will surely be unveiled today. Wild card? While idly browsing the f8 attendees list on Facebook the other day, I spotted a chap called Tom Reyburn, who is apparently a senior partnerships manager at Apple. Now, he may just be the guy who deals with Facebook as an app partner, but what about a late deal to bake Facebook into iOS 5? Just a thought. Meanwhile, the last fortnight has been conspicuous for the lack of rumours about a Facebook Phone. But perhaps we’ll see some other mobile announcements. 10.06am: We’re running a little late to start: lots of people are still gladhanding down the front. A source who just met Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg backstage was impressed by his aura. “Cold hands, though.” That’s because he’s icy calm! Or perhaps he just needs a warmer hoodie. 9.59am: It will be interesting to see what Zuckerberg has to say about this week’s redesign of the Facebook news feed, which is currently provoking its fair share of debate on the social network itself, as well as on Twitter. People always complain about Facebook changes, at least for a couple of days, but this time seems to be causing a bigger rumpus than usual. Two pieces of evidence. One: a crew from ABC were vox-popping the queue to get into f8 this morning asking about the complaints. Two: my mum has well and truly got the hump with it. A scientific focus group of one, obviously. 9.57am: Colleague Josh Halliday has the last-minute gossip: “We’ve heard that five major music services will announce new apps on Facebook in the next hours. Early speculation suggests that these are Spotify, Deezer, Rdio MOG and one other. The other could be Vevo, the music video website which is also thought to be unveiling a new app. We’ve also heard that changes are in store for Facebook profiles. One of these changes is thought to involved a “timeline”, presumably where we can map life’s many indiscretions.” 9.54am: The fact that music is a big part of the keynote announcements today is already well known, but if you need more proof, serial entrepreneur Sean Parker is hosting “A celebration of music” later today, with “conversations with luminaries in the music industry” including Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. 9.49am: While we’re waiting for Zuckerberg to take the stage, it’s been interesting to see how NFC has a high-profile place at the f8 party. Every attendee has a “Presence Card”, which you can tap at different points to take and tag photos of yourself, stroll onto a dancefloor with someone else while your connections are projected on a big screen, or add songs that you’ve Liked on Facebook to the f8 playlist. I can only apologise for this… 9.47am: Facebook’s f8 conference is mainly about its developers, but like Apple’s WWDC show, the main keynote speech is aimed at a far wider audience. CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be taking the stage soon to outline new features and services on the social network, with media and entertainment a key focus. Zuckerberg has been open in the past about the company’s ambitions to bring similar social disruption to music, TV, film and other media to what it has done for games. Today’s announcements will show us how Facebook plans to do that. The music plans have been well leaked, with Spotify and rival services expected to be more tightly integrated into Facebook so people can discover music through a feed of what their friends are listening to. The fact that Facebook’s significant news feed redesign was announced earlier this week hints that there may be more big news in the keynote, though. Stand by. Facebook Apps Mark Zuckerberg Spotify Smartphones Tablet computers Social networking Digital media Live video Stuart Dredge guardian.co.uk
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Greg Clark departs from confrontational tone of previous Tory statements, agreeing to address criticisms of reform plans The planning minister, Greg Clark, has pledged to make changes to the government’s proposals to radically overhaul England’s planning system, after running into opposition from campaign groups . Clark highlighted specific criticisms, including an outcry over the apparent ending of the policy of building on brownfield sites before undeveloped countryside, and said he would address these in the government’s response to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation . “If people responding to the consultation think that various aspects should be more clearly expressed then we are very happy to do so,” he said. Clark’s conciliatory tone, in a speech at a British Property Foundation event in the City of London, contrasted starkly with previous ministerial statements. Clark had called people who opposed all development “nihilistically selfish” and said the National Trust had “misled” its members, while the chancellor, George Osborne, and the communities and local government secretary, Eric Pickles, had stated: “Planning reform is key to our economic recovery. No one should underestimate our determination to win this battle .” “What Clark said today suggests we are now in proper consultation mode,” said Dame Fiona Reynolds, director general of the National Trust. “Some of what was said earlier by Osborne, Pickles and Clark did not feel like a consultation. We can now move forward in a positive spirit.” Friends of the Earth’s planning campaigner, Naomi Luhde-Thompson, said: “We’re pleased Clark recognises that parts of his planning proposals aren’t very clear. It’s what we’ve been telling him since they were published.” The change in tone followed an intervention by the prime minister. David Cameron wrote to the National Trust on Wednesday, stating: “I have always believed that our beautiful British landscape is a national treasure. We should cherish and protect it for everyone’s benefit.” Clark’s speech addressed concerns that the NPPF – which states the default answer to development deemed sustainable is yes – will be imposed on the many communities that did not have local plans in place. “We will make clear in our response to the consultation what the transitional arrangements are,” he said. On prioritising the use of brownfield land, he said the NPPF used a different phrase: “land of least environmental value”. “If people think there is some desire not to prioritise the re-use of derelict land then that is something that I think the consultation will very clearly address.” Critics, who charge that the NPPF is heavily skewed in favour of economic development over social or environmental concerns, have demanded a clear definition of the term “sustainable development”. Clark said: “People have suggested that it could be clearer there so we will respond to that.” In contrast to previous statements by ministers that the current planning system was expensive, wasteful and a brake on growth, Clark said: “I think we have too little planning in this country, rather than too much.” He added: “The intention of presumption [in favour of development] is not to create any kind of loophole; it is not to create a regime that is very much more permissive. Quite the reverse.” However, Adam Marshall, a director at the British Chambers of Commerce, urged Clark to push ahead with reforming the “sclerotic” planning system. “The government has to stay the course and deliver. If these plans do not go ahead there will be a collateral damage effect on small and medium businesses,” he said. Marshall called the NPPF proposals “modest” and “incremental”: Clark had called them “fundamental”. John Slaughter, a director of the Home Builders Federation, said: “I am concerned by the list [of changes] put forward by the National Trust, as I think if you put all those in you will end up with something more restrictive than now.” Countryside and green campaigners say early drafts of the NPPF, with which they were happy, were changed by the Treasury to emphasise economic growth. “Sensible suggestions were left out in case they put any constraint on development,” said Richard Hebditch, from Campaign for Better Transport. Clark said: “If you go from 1,000 pages to a distillation of 50 pages or so, it may be that not everything is expressed clearly, but that does not indicate malign intent.” Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation agreed. She said: “They have done an amazing job of condensation but it is not perfect and some of the nuances are not right. The phrase ‘the default answer to development proposals is yes’ is not statesmanlike. It is more like a newspaper headline.” Clark declined to express regret at the aggressive language that had characterised the planning row to date. “I think it is right to robustly correct misapprehensions,” he said. “I think we are now having a constructive dialogue.” Planning policy Conservation Construction industry Damian Carrington guardian.co.uk
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Letter from family of murdered teenager to PM says new law might have prevented them suing News International The family of Milly Dowler, the murdered teenager whose mobile phone was hacked by the News of the World, has written to the prime minister urging him to abandon legal reforms that will prevent victims suing for compensation. The direct appeal to David Cameron comes two months after they met in Downing Street at the height of the phone-hacking scandal and includes the plea: “We are sure you do not want to go down in history as the prime minister who took rights away from ordinary people.” The letter, released to the Guardian , highlights mounting political anxiety over the effect of the government’s legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders bill (Laspo) which is going through its committee stage in the Commons. Earlier this week, the Liberal Democrat conference in Birmingham passed a motion condemning the coalition government’s plans to deprive those challenging welfare benefit decisions of access to legal aid. As well as containing proposals for slicing £350m a year out of the legal aid budget and withdrawing support for even medical negligence cases, the Ministry of Justice’s bill will ban “no win, no fee” agreements – also known as conditional fee agreements (CFAs) – in their present form. Claimants’ ability to recover expensive insurance premiums and their own lawyers’ success fees from losing defendants will be abolished. Instead the costs will have to be paid out of any final award for damages. Opponents of the change, such as the Sound Off for Justice campaign , warn that it will render the cost of seeking redress through the courts no longer financially viable and restrict access to justice. The Dowler family’s intervention in the debate is highly embarrassing for No 10 and the MoJ. In July, the Guardian revealed that the News of the World hacked into the mobile phone of Milly Dowler, who disappeared at the age of 13 on her way home in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on 21 March 2002. Messages were deleted, giving her parents false hopes that she might still be alive. This week it was revealed that News International, publishers of News of the World, had offered £3m in compensation and payments to charities. The Dowlers’ letter to Cameron declares: “We could not have [reached a settlement] without a ‘no win, no fee’ agreement … We understand that the new law will affect thousands of people who want to sue News International and other newspapers. “We had understood that you were on the side of the people not the press. Please do not change the law so that the ability to sue papers is lost … “We are sure that you do not want to go down in history as the prime minister who took rights away from ordinary people so that large companies could print whatever they like and break the law without [anyone] being able to challenge them.” A copy of the letter has also been sent to the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg. A co-ordinated statement from Sound Off for Justice, which is supported by the solicitors’ body, The Law Society , says the government’s legal reforms will “cut access to justice for millions of middle income families and individuals in the UK”. “The only winners from the government’s changes in legislation will be insurance companies that will pay less or not at all for genuine accidents, health operators that avoid paying for their clinical negligence and big business,” it says. “The losers will be normal families and people like the Dowlers and other victims of ‘wrongdoing’ by organisations or individuals that are wealthier. The changes will create a legal arms war with the richest winning.” Des Hudson, chief executive of the Law Society, said: “[The Dowlers] have succeeded in making it clear to the prime minister and his deputy that it is ordinary families with terrible life challenges that will be impacted the most. “They are the losers. As a society we need to protect them and their access to justice. The government must stop and listen today.” Mark Lewis, the solicitor who represented the Dowler family, said: “This is all about access to justice. Individuals, be they poor or rich, do not have the financial might to stand up to the super rich, and powerful corporations. Without CFAs ordinary people cannot afford to challenge what is said about them and what is done to them. It is not just that money talks but that it can stop you and me from answering back. “Democracy requires that we all have a voice. The proposed changes will remove that from most of us.” Lewis, who has represented clients on a no fee basis, offered to represent the Dowler family even if there was no conditional fee agreement. Asked about any payment as part of the settlement, he declined to comment. Labour’s justice spokesman, Andy Slaughter, tabled an amendment to the Laspo bill, citing the Dowlers’ case, in an attempt to reverse reforms of “no win, no fee” agreements. The amendment was not accepted. Slaughter pointed out that both Robert Murat, who was “grossly defamed” after the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, and Christopher Jefferies, who was “monstered” by the press after being arrested by police in the Joanna Yeates murder investigation, had relied on CFAs to seek legal redress. Ken Clarke, the justice secretary, has said that he is determined to combat what he terms the “compensation culture” and says the changes will force potential litigants to consider costs when launching claims. The changes to CFAs were originally recommended in a review conducted by Lord Justice Jackson, which, however, stressed the importance of preserving legal aid. Earlier this month, he said: “The cutbacks in legal aid are contrary to the recommendations in my report … The legal aid system plays a crucial role in promoting access to justice at proportionate costs in key areas.” The plans to cut £350m from the legal aid budget – removing support in areas such as divorce, child custody, employment, immigration, housing, debt, benefit and education – have also been widely opposed by human rights and welfare charities. The charity Action against Medical Accidents this week launched a judicial review of the government’s decision to take clinical negligence out of the scope of legal aid. The organisation’s chief executive, Peter Walsh, said: “Scrapping legal aid for clinical negligence is completely irrational whatever way you look at it, as well as grossly unfair. Ken Clarke’s department might save a little money, but the cost will simply be heaped on the NHS.” The Labour party has also criticised Jonathan Djanogly, the justice minister steering the reforms through the Commons, because of his personal investments in insurance companies which, it is alleged, will benefit from the reforms . Labour has written to the cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, demanding an investigation into any potential conflict of interest. The minister has said that his investments are declared as a matter of public record and have been put into a blind trust. A Downing Street spokesman said: “The government is absolutely committed to ensuring that people can access the justice system regardless of their financial situation, which is why we are committed to maintaining ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements. “There are many deserving cases brought before the courts. But we have to stop the abuse of the system by others pursing excessive, costly and unnecessary cases. Under the current arrangements, innocent defendants can face enormous costs, which can discourage them from fighting cases. This simply isn’t fair. “So in order to ensure that the no win, no fee cases continue to provide fair access to justice for all, we have to make changes. “By balancing the costs more fairly between the claimant and defendant, these changes will ensure that claimants will still be able to bring deserving claims, and receive damages where they are due, and most importantly they will make the no win, no fee system sustainable for the future.” Labour’s Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, said: “People like the Dowler family who have been terribly wronged will have far less chance of getting justice if the government’s proposals go ahead. “Without legal aid or a lawyer able to act on a no win, no fee basis they will go unheard or be forced to bring their case without representation. These misguided proposals could prevent future criminal acts being brought to justice. This government must rethink them now. “The government should heed the warnings from the Dowlers to ensure that all victims have access to proper representation in court and no one is denied access to justice.” Milly Dowler Legal aid Phone hacking News International News of the World UK criminal justice David Cameron Nick Clegg Crime Owen Bowcott guardian.co.uk
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Grim day of trading begins with warnings on US economy and worsens with alarming news of slowdown in Europe and China Around £64bn was wiped off the value of the UK’s biggest companies as renewed fears over the world economy sent shares sliding around the globe . During a nervy and dramatic day’s trading in London, the FTSE 100 index tumbled 246 points, or 4.67%, to close at 5041. This is the blue-chip index’s worst daily fall in percentage terms since March 2009, and its biggest points fall since November 2008 in the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Markets across Europe shared the gloom, with the German Dax losing 4.9% and France’s Cac falling by 5.2%. Wall Street was also bathed in red, with the Dow Jones down 400 points, or 3.7%, by midday US time. The rout began at the start of trading, triggered by a warning from the US Federal Reserve that there were “significant downside risks” to the American economy. Financial markets continued to be hit by bad economic news throughout Thursday, including disappointing manufacturing data from China and alarming evidence that Europe’s private sector was shrinking, dragging the region back towards recession. Giles Watts, head of equities at City Index, said the selloff was driven by “the sheer weight of evidence pointing towards a sharp slowdown in global activity”, making a new recession more likely. “All of the negative news has just culminated into a scenario whereby investors are asking themselves whether they really should be putting their money in risky stocks or defensive safe havens. Today’s markets show the answer has firmly been the latter of those two options,” he said. An appeal from Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, for world leaders to unite did not restore confidence in the City. Every stock fell on the FTSE 100, with mining companies such as Vedanta, Antofagasta and Kazakhmys all suffering double-digit declines. Bank shares were also in retreat across Europe, amid calls for financial firms to bolster their balance sheets with fresh capital to cope with impending losses from the eurozone debt crisis. “Last night’s gloomy outlook from the Fed saw market sentiment take a battering right from the open, while disappointing PMI figures from China have done little to lighten the mood, particularly in the resource sector,” said Ben Critchley of IG Index. Louise Cooper, markets analyst at BGC Partners, said traders were deeply fearful about the prospects for the world economy. “The future is so uncertain – the world could look significantly different in a month’s time. Greece could have defaulted, we could be in the middle of a banking crisis, a bank could have even gone bust,” Cooper said. Baudouin Prot, the head of BNP Paribas, went on a media offensive on Thursday to deny reports that his bank would be seeking a lifeline from Qatar . Financial crisis European debt crisis FTSE Dow Jones European banks Banking Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Unemployment among young adults is at its highest point since World War II, new data show. And it’s having a disconcerting impact on the trajectory of their careers and lives. “We have a monster jobs problem, and young people are the biggest losers,” Andrew Sum, an economist with the Center for Labor Market Studies at
Continue reading …Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was on a tear again. But instead of skewering capitalistic imperialists, he lashed … breast implants. The irritated strongman took to the air on state-run TV earlier this year specifically to attack the growing trend—and the docs who make big bucks performing the surgery, reports ABC…
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